La Boule – The Old French Roulette-based Game

La Boule is an old French game derived from more famous Roulette. Some historians classify it amongst Roulette games, some of them do not. Whatever is the case there is the consensus that La Boule is very likely as old as Roulette itself. Another Roulette clone is Vingt-Trois.

La Boule is still available in some French casinos, but seldom outside France. One thing is common with Roulette. The game consists of a betting layout and a round bowl with pockets designated by numbers. Apart from Roulette La Boule is not served by the Croupier but by a person called the Bouler. The ball, which is bigger than the one in Roulette (looks like a tennis ball), is spun around the bowl until it finishes in one of the pockets. The bowl itself is static.

La Boule has got only 9 numbers, 1, 3, 6 a 8 are black, 2, 4, 7 and 9 are red, number 5 is yellow and has the similar function as zero in Roulette. If number 5 is spun then all even-money bets lose instantly.

La Boule Layout

La Boule Bets

Even-money bets with the payout ratio 1:1 are Red (2, 4, 7, 9) or Black (1, 3, 6, 8), Odd (1, 3, 7, 9) or Even (2, 4, 6, 8) and Low (1, 2, 3, 4) or High (6, 7, 8, 9).

Payout on single numbers including 5 is 7:1.

Winning Chances in La Boule

La Boule does not promise great winning chances. However it gained popularity at some casinos on French Riviera, Swiss Cantons and some Asian countries. La Boule is not offered by online casinos, which might be good for gamblers as the game gives the house edge 11.11%.